Zero Defence? DHA Karachi located on faultline

DHA (Defence Housing Authority), which promises a dream living to its residents, may become a worst nightmare since the locality is situated on the fault lines.

DHA Karachi accommodates the elite class of the city and offers lavish living to the people. How unfortunate it is that this well planned housing society is located on the seismic fault line, and a flame to the fire, the authority has mounted no emergency services to cater to any natural disasters such as earthquake, cyclone or tsunami.

Particularly, the terrifying quivers of 7.6 magnitude earthquake that jolted the city on the night of 23^rd Oct 2013, created dreadful panics. As told by a resident, the people spent that whole night on MA Jinnah Road, in the open sky.

I do not attempt to defame the DHA, instead, I am writing this article to voice safety concerns of its residents. DHA maintains a reasonable goodwill in the property sector of Pakistan and it is accredited as one of the leading developers of the country. The authority should provide sound safety and emergency services to its dwellers. DHA earns huge amounts from the residents and therefore, it is authority’s responsibility to provide safety services against any unfortunate catastrophe (ALLAH forbid).

DHA should be vigilant in selecting the location of its upcoming projects; special measures should be adopted for confirming that any new community is far away from the fault line or the construction done here earthquake proof. In my view, this is one of the basic things that all the developers should dissect before launching any new project, be it commercial or residential.

Even Islamabad is located on the fault line, but thanks to ALLAH ALMIGHTY that the capital city has never witnessed a massive natural disaster. I cordially pray for the safety of the people of Pakistan and expect the contractors and developers to be conscious of safety of its clients.